Eight James Madison University marketing students recently passed the required exams and demonstrated proficiency in necessary subject areas critical to gaining competence in Google AdWords.  Google awarded these students with an AdWords Individual Qualification with specialization in Search Advertising.  By passing the examinations in this  globally recognized program, individuals are qualified to effectively manage Google AdWords campaigns using the latest tools and best practice techniques.

I am so very proud of these students from my MKTG 490 (Google Online Marketing Challenge) course.  Congratulations is extended to

Blaine Anderson

Nicole Behr

Sarah Carpenter

Jacqueline Cheff

Jason Gannon

Rachel Krause

Zeke Lukow

Katie Wurdack

Twenty-one James Madison University students  recently passed the Certified eMarketing Associate (CeMA) examination.  CeMA is an e-marketing certification program accredited by the eMarketing Association (eMA).  The program provides professional certification to students who demonstrate competency in the e-marketing arena.

All students listed below have passed the certification exams and are now Certified eMarketing Associates.  Special recognition is extended to Sandra Tran, Zeke Lukow, Sarah Carpenter, and Joanna Tu for earning the highest CeMA exam scores in the spring 2012 MKTG 470 classes.  As stated by the eMarketing Association:

The CeMA certification is a substantial credential for students as well as professionals who are new to the e-marketing profession. The certification is recognized globally and is the only e-marketing certification recognized by a state office of education..

   … 

Please join me in congratulating these  students on their professional accomplishment!

In my spring 2012 MKTG 470 class at James Madison University, we have explored various aspects of search engine marketing including search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC).

SEO Exercise

As an application of SEO, my students were tasked with learning how to optimize any one web page or blog post within their site using the phrase “love JMU“.

Prior to the exercise, students performed a diagnostic test to determine where their site currently ranked organically using the phrase “love JMU“.  In the majority of cases, students reported that their page was not found within the first ten (or even twenty) search engine results pages (SERPs).

After about a month of on-page and off-page SEO efforts, most students saw an improvement in organic rankings based on their initial diagnostic test.  I wish to congratulate all of my students for their performance in optimizing a page or post using the phrase  “love JMU“.

As of April 19, 2012, the highest ranking students are:

1. Shane Garvin
2. Becca Lynch
3. Melissa Knowles
4. Christie Belinski

I am also pleased to announce that my entire class is currently holding a 36% share of the first 200 SERPs when doing a Google search for “love JMU“.  Kudos to my spring 2012 cohort of MKTG 470 students.

Speaking of loving JMU, my son loves JMU and he loves all of the attention he’s getting from the JMU cheerleaders.  I couldn’t resist adding in this photo with so much JMU love floating around.

My son with JMU cheerleaders in Sept. 2010.

The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) is a not for profit organization that is dedicated to those in the marketing industry through its mission:  To attract, educate, and place top college students in direct/interactive marketing careers.

They recently posted a full-time position for graduating seniors and I wanted to highlight the opportunity in their Next Generation Leaders Program.  Their program has a 100% employment record!  If you know a college senior graduating soon, tell them to check out the DMEF.

Special thanks to Lindsay Crone (JMU Marketing Alum) for sharing this opportunity.

Looking for search engine marketing Internships? How would you like to intern for a fast-growing, private company in one of the hottest spaces on the Internet? The Search Agency is a top-tier search engine marketing (SEM) and optimization (SEO) firm that offers internet advertisers a full-service solution to their search marketing campaigns. Join a bright, rapidly growing group of dedicated, creative and energetic people in a casual and upbeat environment in Baltimore.  The right candidate will join a world-class team – gaining cutting-edge, best-in-class Online and Search Marketing exposures in a rapidly growing industry. The Search Agency is positioned as a top-tier SEM, SEO working closely with industry-leading companies and thought leaders in the online space.

Analyst (Search Marketing) Internship

This exciting position features the opportunity to:

• work with a team of experience search engine marketers to optimize paid search campaigns
• analyze and report on search engine metrics
• implement and improve Excel skills including formulas, filtering, pivot tables, and trending charts
• multi-task in a deadline driven atmosphere.
• prioritize projects based on business needs

Skills/Qualifications:

• Great attention to detail
• Strong Excel skills – Macros and introductory visual basic skills preferred
• Ability to function independently and as part of a team
• Adaptability to a changing environment quickly and easily
• Manage multiple assignments and prioritize work while meeting deadlines
• Demonstrated ability in statistics, including R2, confidence intervals, t-test, regression, etc preferred.
• Professional demeanor
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, business, economics or mathematics/statistics preferred

Creative Editor Internship

This exciting position features the opportunity to:

• work closely with Account Managers, Web Experts, and other professionals to create unique and optimized ads
• research and learn online consumer behavior
• to develop and organize keywords into campaigns that best put ads in front of the right people
• to work both creatively and analytically to improve account performance
• to act quickly and proactively for client success in a deadline-driven environment

Skills/Qualifications:

• Proven writing and communication excellence
• Great attention to detail
• Intuitive/creative thinker
• Outstanding computer skills, computer savviness, including solid knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel
• Ability to function independently and as part of a team
• Manage multiple assignments and prioritize work while meeting deadlines
• Resolve complex editorial challenges in a professional and timely manner
• Professional demeanor
• Bachelors in Marketing, English, Journalism, or Communications preferred

Search Engine Optimization Internship

This exciting position features the opportunity to:

• understand search engine algorithm impacts on a website and share new strategies with clients
• collaborate with clients to research and maintain target keywords for inbound link anchor text
• analyze data and report key findings and recommendations to clients
• generate and distribute monthly traffic, ranking and other vital reports
• develop rich and unique content for websites that is both user and engine friendly

Skills/Qualifications:

• Great attention to detail.
• Ability to function independently and as part of a team.
• Adaptability to a changing environment quickly and easily.
• Manage multiple assignments and prioritize work while meeting deadlines.
• Professional demeanor.
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, business, economics or mathematics/statistics preferred.

Other Details

• 20 hours a week
• Flexible schedule
• Summer and fall opportunities
• Baltimore, MD
• Application deadline: April 30^th, 2012
• Internship begins: June 4^th, 2012

For more information email internships.baltimore@thesearchagency.com

My Strategic Internet Marketing students recently completed a course assignment using Google AdWords.  The primary learning objective was to acquire hands on experience driving traffic to any web page and any blog post from their MKTG 470 course websites.

Through this AdWords assignment, students developed skills in paid search (pay-per-click marketing) using Google AdWords.   With a total account budget of $15.00 and a window of 15 possible days, students had an opportunity to learn how to structure accounts, create campaigns and ad groups, develop and manage keyword lists, utilize effective matching options, test ad copy, modify keyword bids,  assess account performance, adjust daily budgets, and much more.  Students were also treated to a presentation from a very special ’08 JMU Marketing alum ~ Lindsay (Matt) Crone, Creative Editor at The Search Agency.

I wish to recognize a few students from my  spring 2012 class for exceptional performance in a few key areas from this assignment:

• Highest CTR at the Lowest Avg CPC:  Christie Belinski
• Highest Number of Clicks at the Lowest Avg CPC:  Carrie Webber
• Highest CTR:   Christie Belinski
• Highest Number of Clicks:   Scott LeDuc
• Best Budget Management:   Carrie Webber
• Best Overall Optimization:   Sarah Carpenter, Megan Rose, Joanna Tu, and Xin Yang

On March 30, 2012 I will make a presentation at the Marketing Management Association Annual Conference in Chicago on Facilitating Achievement in the Google Online Marketing Challenge.  My presentation will refer to various resources I use when coaching/teaching  MKTG 490 at James Madison University.  Some of the resources were created by me and some were created by Google.  I wanted to share these resources to help others who want to learn how to teach the Google Online Marketing Challenge.

Note:  I use Google Docs to create many of the “forms” listed below.  One of the nicest features of Google Docs is the ability to review all of the associated form data embedded within Google Docs spreadsheet.  While you are welcome to view the online forms, I can’t share them because I must protect the confidential student data.  Learn how to create forms using Google Docs.

My Google Challenge Resources

• Course Application Form
• Confidential Team Request Form
• Team Roles Form
• Paid Search (PPC) Resources
• Paid Search Using Google AdWords:  An assignment I use in a different course (MKTG 470) to help students learn how to use AdWords.
• Selecting a Client for the Google Online Marketing Challenge – from my old blog
• Google AdWords Resources
• How to get a $100 AdWords Credit from GoDaddy
• Campaign Performance Summary Form – completed weekly during the three week campaign window
• Insights on the Google Online Marketing Challenge and Its Successful Classroom Implementation:   This is an article I co-authored with Jim Jansen, Charlie Hofacker, and Jamie Murphy.  While providing descriptive details of how the Challenge works, the primary focus of this paper is on how professors can confidently and effectively implement the Google Challenge as a stand-alone course, an element of a larger course, or as an out-of-class component.

Google’s Challenge Resources

• Test Study Guide for the course test (basically it is the study guide for the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam)
• Good example reports from the 2011 Challenge (Source:  http://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/judging.html)
• Details on the evaluation criteria are in the Competition Guidelines
• The Google Challenge Guide
• AdWords Editor makes it easy to update AdWords. Work offline, then upload your changes any time.Make bulk changes (such as updating bids or adding keywords) in just a few steps.  Copy or move items between ad groups and campaigns. Navigate through your account quickly and easily. Circulate proposed changes and get feedback from other users.  Special thanks to Debra Zahay Blatz (Debra Zahay) for providing this information the Google Online Marketing Challenge Facebook Page (an unofficial page associated with the Google Challenge).

I welcome your comments and suggestions for additional resources for this page.

I love JMU

To help my spring 2012 MKTG 470 students improve the quality of their blogs and prepare for the end-of-semester peer review, each student is assigned a “JMU blog partner”.

Blog partners are encouraged to develop a strategy for critiquing each others blog posts and providing feedback throughout the semester.  Blog partners may want to “pre-grade each other’s blog posts” before they are due and set up monthly meetings to review each others blog.  As another option, blog partners may wish to set up a review schedule and communicate electronically.  It is entirely up to each blog partner team to determine how often they wish to communicate and help each other develop great blogs.

Recommended reading:  How to write a blog that others will want to read.

11:00 Section Blog Partners:

12:30 Section Blog Partners:

I am pleased to present the websites for my spring 2012 James Madison marketing students enrolled in MKTG 470.

Last week, each student successfully purchased a WordPress hosting plan and a .com domain name using  GoDaddy.com.  During the next week, my students will begin transforming their WordPress site into a unique creation.  At first, they will learn how to establish a site theme, edit their “sample” page, create new web pages, manage their navigational bar, create permalinks, get their blog started, customize authorship of their blog, work with widgets, add images to their website, and create hyperlinks to images and text.  Later in the course, students will explore various plug-ins for search engine optimization and site analytics, change their site theme to reflect their individual personalities, add blog posts, create favicons, enable social media sharing, and much more.

I am very excited to help my students hone their technological skills.   Below is a listing of my spring 2012 students and their URLs.

Please revisit this page periodically over the next few months to see how the sites develop.

This semester, a few of my MKTG 470 students have encountered some an unusual log-in problem with WordPress.  This is a new issue that I have not seen with prior classes.  Further, it is difficult problem to spot for people who are not familiar with WordPress.

Below is an example of a correct and incorrect WordPress login screen.  Contact GoDaddy Technical Support at (480) 505-8877 if your login screen does not look right.